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Rain and thunder were things the turtles were vaguely familiar with.
They knew what the things were, of course, and had lived through plenty themselves- but hadn't been aware of just how much the sewers muffled the noise, hadn't been aware that houses aren't supposed to shake and tremble like during an earthquake during one. After getting the freedom to go topside, they had sat in the rain plenty of times- they were aquatic turtles. The rain was very nice.
But a full-blown storm?
They had never actually been able to witness that.
Until now.
It had been raining, all day long. Giddly, despite April's protests, the four had gone out in the rain- sitting, dancing around, jumping in puddles- they hadn't exactly been able to do that in New York. It didn't take long for Leo to start worrying again to try and pull his little brothers back inside, along with April, what if they got sick?
Even after they had managed to drag everyone inside, they had watched out the window a moment longer.
It... rained a lot at the farmhouse.
Even now.
The moon had gone up long ago, the stars here shining so much brighter than they ever could in New York. It wasn't even loud, with people screaming or cars honking- it was quiet. Peacefully quiet, not even any cricket noises because the rain had chased them all away.
Leonardo hadn't known just how peaceful the rain could sound- the gentle pitter-patter of water droplets against the windows sounded so, so relaxing. It made him drowsy, which was odd considering his insomnia. Then again, it might also be the fact that with rain, the weather became colder. It might be just his cold-blooded nature reacting to the weather change, but that didn't mean the sound wasn't soothing. And clearly, he wasn't the only one who thought that.
He could hear Raph snoring from the bunk bed above his and knew Mikey had gone to bed earlier today too. Heck, even Donnie had made the conscious choice to sleep in his and Mikey's shared bedroom instead of passing out in the barn and having someone else carry him back to bed. April and Casey hadn't really been affected by it- but then again, the two had lived above the ground.
Currently, Leo was lying in his bed, dozing off to the sound of the rain. Tip, tap, tip tap, tip, tap- the rain had only gotten worse and worse, pouring from the skies above and almost 'angrily' pounding down the windows. It was soothing, in some way. Very nice to listen to. Succesfully silencing his thoughts, his worries- all there was was the rain. Peaceful, nice rain. Maybe he should see if Donnie could install rain sounds on his shell phone later? It seemed to help him get sleepy a lot, and if everyone else could sleep this peacefully every night-
BOOM!
He was wide awake at once.
Leo shot out of bed with a gasp, immediately with his two katanas in his hands ready to go, his pupils gone and eyes white slits. Raph, in a similar fashion, sat straight in his bed, woken out of his sleep in an instant. He was on high alert as he looked down. "What was that?!"
"I don't know." Leo rumbled, and the younger one winced. Really, with his new voice he sounded even creepier then-
CRACK!
Another roar of what sounded like a bomb tore through the sky, the outside flashing white just a moment before it did, having Raph jump off his bed, adrenaline filling their veins, and having the two on their guards at once. What is this, what is happening, were they under attack who had found-
BOOM!
Their door burst open.
His heart was pounding at this point, Leo had been ready to attack- but it was just Donnie and Mikey who jumped inside, both ready with their weapons as well, not even having bothered to put their masks back on. They didn't look as ready as the older two did, paler than usual, and allowed their pupils to return once spotting their brothers. "My camera's detected no entities near- it can't be April's mothe- the Krang coming back, can it?"
"If she was, I would know." Mikey sounded harsh, but let out a terrified squeak when another rumble sounded from the sky.
They were under attack. They were found. When were they found? How did they get in danger, danger danger danger- Leo's leg was still messed up he couldn't defend them as well as usual-
"We need to go- now." Leonardo was already moving, straight for April and Casey's room, not even taking his crutch- there was no time for gathering supplies, those booms sounded like bombs, closer, louder- heck, even the rain sounded worse- he forgot his mask, would they have time to get them-?
"The chickens! Kitty!" Mikey yelled, sounding terrified before taking on a serious expression again, not wasting another second as he sprinted down the stairs.
"Mikey we need to go!" Raph yelled after him, sounding even angrier than usual, but another boom made him freeze. His breath hitched, while Donnie covered his ears.
"Loud." he let out a pained hiss, which, bad, turtle instincts were bad right now, down, down, those needed to go bring the ninja back bring the ninja back-
BOOM!
Leo slammed the bedroom door open and pulled away Casey's blanket quickly. "Get up." He hissed, while Donnie turned on the lights with his elbow. Casey groaned, shoving his face in his pillow while April covered herself up more- how in the world could they sleep through that?! "April, Casey, get up!"
His voice cracked awfully, but the leader ignored it.
Danger danger danger-
"Leo it's too early for this..." April groaned. Casey just grumbled.
"We're under attack, you idiots!" Raph burst inside, but now he looked more terrified. He turned to Leo. "Leo, I can't, Mikey's not-"
"Go." He nodded at the genius, who sped out at once.
Raph's shout, thankfully, had the two wide awake at once. Or. Almost.
April threw her blanket on the floor, not bothering to even tie up her hair- she just reached for her vest that she had left on her bed earlier and put that on over her pj's. "What kind of attack?"
"We're attacked-?" Casey rolled off the bed, got his hockey stick from underneath it, then pushed himself up. Oh. Oh his hair had fluffed up badly without his bandana. "Where?! How?! When?!"
BOOM!
The two remaining turtles flinched at the noise, raising their weapons, before lowering them again. Okay, those flashes of light couldn't be bombs- cameras? But the sounds-
Danger, protect, shield, danger, protect, run, run danger run danger run-
"Come on go go go!" The hotheaded turtle grabbed April's arm to drag her along, looking around to make sure no enemy would jump out of the window any second. The nightmare monsters? Big Foot? Shredder? "That sounded way too close and I don't like it!"
"Wait- you mean the-" April's panic faded into confusion before a look of understanding appeared on her face. Why wasn't she terrified? Using her powers? See what was going on?!
Donnie zipped back up the stairs, a duffel bag stuffed with who knows what slung over his shoulders- at least Donnie was still prepared for anything. "Leo, we need jackets the weather is too cold we're gonna slip into brumation-"
"There is no time." Leo grabbed his hand and pulled him along, ignoring the next flash of white and the rumble that followed. Loud, close, danger, keep siblings safe, danger, protect, danger danger danger danger-
CRACK!
"Wait, you guys!-" April yelled, dropping all her weight before Raph could drag her down the stairs. She yelped when the turtle swung her over his shoulders with ease. "Raphael-!"
"What is going on?!" The other human sounded just as panicked, but Leo paid him no mind. Another flash of lights had him flinching- which April noticed, confirming her suspicions.
Casey stepped in front of the three before they could actually go down. "Will someone explain where the attacks are!? We can fight them!"
"Don't you hear the size of those bombs?!" Donnie hysterically asked, searching in his bag- The keys, he lost his keys, where are his keys-
"Bombs-?"
"You guys!" April was kicking her legs around, attempting to get free. No, no, what is she doing, they needed to go they needed to go- "It's just thunder!"
...
The trio stopped. "What...?"
...Thunder? Thunder? That was thunder?
With his heart beating so loud Leo could hear it, he actually looked out the window this time. He watched, as another flash came from the sky before another roar followed.
...Right. When it rained, it could thunder. Those booms were thunder.
If only his body would believe that. Still trapped in fight or flight.
"Have none of you ever heard thunder before?" April asked, tapping Raph's shell. "Raph, can you let me go?"
"There's no way! Thunder isn't this loud!" Raphael did as he was asked, but was still in disbelief. This was supposedly thunder? Sure, they had been living in the sewers but-
"...You woke me up because of some rain?" Casey sounded offended, crossed his arms, and then yawned. Loud meowing had him looking down the stairs. "Damn... even Kitty doesn't like it."
"...T-the sewers must have muffled it m-more... then I thought." The adrenaline seemed to slowly leave the genius as he dropped both the bag and bo-staff, breath hitching and covering his ears. Still, he looked relieved. "We've... never been topside during rain."
"Well... thunder isn't usually this bad." April frowned, walking over to the window to look outside. She winced at the next, loud bang. "This looks like a full storm... what did you guys think it was?"
"..." Leo cleared his throat. "...Bombs."
"You thought we were being attacked-"
"It sounded like it-"
"Mikey!" Raph pushed Casey aside to sprint down the stairs- because he just realized, they shouldn't be able to hear Kitty from her fridge from where they stood. The other two froze, before running after him. The humans were quick to follow.
"Hey, Leo! Why are we running?!"
"Mikey ran out to get Kitty and let out the chickens," Leo spoke darkly, sliding into the kitchen and almost twisting up his knee again, doubling over to grab the limp in question. Donatello paid him no mind- both he and his older brother were focused on Icecream Kitty- who was on the counter instead of in the fridge (which had been left open) panickedly meowing loudly and reaching her paws to the open door- fuck.
BOOM!
Leo sprinted outside without second thought, ignoring the shouts of his name- but had to stop as he felt the freezing rain on his skin- cold, cold, cold cold cold-
The farmhouse hadn't been this cold before. Why was it so cold? He liked rain, it never bothered him-
Crack!
He flinched. That was loud. Loud. Loud and cold, outside, in the dark, danger, loud, dark, protect where is-
A jacket was thrown over his head. He looked back, surprised to see that April had followed him. She wasn't even covering herself! "April, what are you-"
"You're terrified." She said, not even fazed by the rumbles from all around or the wind blowing her hair in her face. "And your knee is still hurt. Calm your breathing-"
BOOM!
Leo chirped in distress without meaning to, then covered his mouth in shock. He looked at April, a silent plea to not mention it- which she thankfully understood. She stepped past him, going for the chicken coop where they could hear distressed chickens. "Mikey! Mikey, it's okay!"
Adrenaline was the only reason the oldest could still walk around, katana's tightly clenched so he could have something to ground himself with. Despite knowing what the terrifying sounds were now, his body refused to listen to rational thought- he should make tea. And chocolate milk. Milk was calming. And the youngest liked chocolate.
This rain felt different from the relaxing, slow droplets from this morning- this rain hurt, it was fast, it was cold but that might also be because Leo felt like he was going to get grabbed and struck down by the lightening any second, he wasn't sure-
Something small and shaky crashed into his plastron, wrapping his arms around his torso- if it weren't for the nunchucks Leo felt at the sides he would have almost stabbed him. But Mikey pushed away less than a second later, looking terrified and short of breath. "Leo- Leo I can't- I can't find the key, I can't open the door, and Kitty can't go out in this weather I-"
"-Hey." Leo tried, placing both hands on his shoulders. The oldest didn't exactly sound calming- his voice was shaky still. But at least he wasn't blindly panicking anymore. "It's okay, it's alright, Kitty doesn't need to go out-"
"I can't leave her!" The youngest cried out, letting go so he could flap his hands, breathing speeding up. "I can't- I can't take her in the rain, she'll melt, but I can't leave her they'll hurt her Leo I can't- I can't-"
Crack!
He was actually hyperventilating now, stimming worse, but April was quick to make him face her, expression gentle and kind. "Mikey, Mikey honey it's okay, you're safe- it's just thunder. No explosions. Just thunder."
Mikey paused his panicking to blink. "...Thunder." he choked out. "Thunder?"
BOOM!
He flinched, now holding onto her shoulders as if his life depended on it. The turtle didn't dare look up at the sky, his mind still trying to convince him to run, run, get away, danger, run, danger, run, get away, danger danger danger-
Leo grabbed one of his hands, trembling just as much as Michelangelo. The two made eye contact. Leonardo watched as the rain mixed with his brother's tears, slipping slowly past his cheeks and dripping down into the grass. Similar to how they had done in the farmhouse, tip, tap, tip, tap, all around instead of just on the windows. There was confusion and fear behind those eyes, as if April's word wasn't enough.
The oldest nodded.
The youngest blinked again, before he let out a breath, shoulders sagging. He took a moment to catch his breath, until... "...Think Master Splinter was trying to make sure we're still in shape?"
Not expecting the comment, Leo snorted, letting go to cover his mouth. Mikey grinned- but the next flash of thunder had him letting out a distressed chirp just as fast. He put his hands over the sides of his head. April looked between the two of them, before pulling the nunchuck wielder along. "Come on." She murmured. "Let's go inside and dry up again."
Get out get out get out danger run escape-
"Stop it." Raphael hissed to himself, having remained frozen in place because he didn't know how to deal with the fact he felt like he was about to get stabbed. He couldn't silence the thunder, he couldn't beat it up- and was too on edge to get angry enough to punch his feelings out. He was stuck.
Donnie was pacing around and stimming with his hands, waving them around, clenching his fists- headphones. Did he have headphones? Or maybe they could drown out the rumbles with the TV.
Raph had always liked rain.
Rain meant he was outside, which meant freedom. Not to mention, the water soaking into his skin was just nice. But this wasn't calm rain he was used to. This rain was loud, the water droplets sounding painful now.
Though, now that he actually knew it was rain and not some alien invasion, he could feel himself losing his energy. Which was not good, considering he was still frozen and his brain kept screaming to protect, protect, protect-
Meanwhile, Donnie's breath grew sloppy, and he stomped his foot down. "I- what the fuck-" he muttered to himself, sounding more angry than anything. He should have known. Donnie was the smart one, the one who knew everything, the one who was prepared- prepared for anything and everything, always, all the time, ready to go-
He was prepared for Krang, for Shredder, for aliens living in the forest, surprise attack, spaceships-
Apparently, not for fucking thunder.
Like, really? They fled New York after fighting- whatever that whole situation was- and he gets this freaked out by thunder? He researched everything, everything that could hurt them, it had rained for days on end so why was he so freaked out by a storm-
The door opened.
Donnie stopped pacing and Raph got out of his own head.
Both the turtles and the human were completely soaked, with April shivering but ignoring it, instead choosing to rub her hands on Mikey's arms, attempting to get him to react. Mikey was just staring, looking tired. Leo quickly shut the door behind them, mentally doing a headcount. "Where is Casey?" He asked, unusually calm.
Casey had left? When had he left? Raph looked around in surprise. Had... had he gone back to bed-?
At that exact moment, the human chose to walk back downstairs, holding a bunch of blankets in his hands and seemingly asleep on his feet. He yawned, and held out the towels without saying anything. April thanked him quietly, taking one for herself and Mikey- who paid no attention to her.
His cat was meowing again, holding out her paws towards him- who was Mikey to refuse his best friend?
He snatched the bowl from the table, ignoring how her cold body made his teeth clatter, and nuzzled his face against her cheek. "Hey, Kitty." He mumbled, smiling when she licked his nose. He giggled, scratching her ears...
And then he sobbed.
He hugged her as close as he could without hurting her, shaking intensified and trying desperately not to start hyperventilating again. He ignored Icecream Kitty's worried meow as well as all the eyes on him.
Mikey was used to chaos.
He was used to the loud, the sneak attacks, the almost dying- he almost died a lot now that he thought about it- so really, he wasn't too surprised when he thought they were found. It was easy to slip into ninja mode, follow Leo's lead- his big brother never let them wrong, after all. They could escape, they could get out, as scary as it was. They had done so plenty of times before, they could do so again.
But this time...
As he had sprinted down the stairs to get his beloved cat and quickly put her in the battle shell, he had been forced to freeze as he saw the outside.
The rain.
The godforsaken, god-awful rain.
He had looked at the weather, then at his cat. Who was made out of ice cream.
He didn't know if the rain would actually make her melt, but he knew that adding water to ice cream wasn't a good idea- he had tried to make smoothing that way, once. Hadn't ended up well. Not one bit. And then he hadn't even been able to find the keys to the barn, so the innocent chickens would he stuck, left behind-
In that moment, Michelangelo had been terrified.
He couldn't leave his sweet Kitty behind.
"Oh, Mikey..." He heard April coo at him, hugging his shoulders from behind- nope, nope, her wet pajamas felt wrong, not nice- he winced, pulling away just a bit but still managing to look at her apologetically. She took the hint, but held out a towel for him to take.
BOOM!
The youngest chirped again, not sounding happy in the slightest- not safe, danger, get out.
Donnie, surprisingly, let out some chirps too, covering his ears again. Loud, loud, loud.
Raph covered his mouth before he could let anything slip, looking red. Still, he looked around warily.
Leo, who was done drying himself by now, was the only one who didn't react- taking Mikey's towel from April to drape it over his shoulders himself. Then, he walked over to Raph to lightly flick his forehead. The hotheaded turtle snapped out of it in an instant, about to scoff at him for doing that- but stopped himself. Finally, he went for Donnie, gently placing his hands over the geniuses, attempting to drown the noise out. "Does it say online how long the storm will last?"
Stay calm down, freak out later. He was the leader for a reason.
The face April made as she checked the weather app told him no good. "It's supposed to last a couple more hours, at least..."
"Great." Raph grumbled, crossing his arms and heading to the living room.
"But you know it's a storm now." Casey stretched his arms, then rubbed at his eyes. "What's the big deal?"
A bolt of white fell from the sky, followed by another horrible rumble. Mikey's breath hitched as he held tighter onto Icecream Kitty, while Donnie dove into Leo's arms, holding on desperately. Leo just shot Casey a look.
"It's just thunder, otouto." He murmured, scratching his shell with one of his hands.
He felt the younger nod against his shoulder, but still refused to let go. "...Don't know why it's freaking me out." He admitted.
"Trauma response." April hummed, helping Mikey dry off as he wasn't doing so himself. "You woke up and the first thing you heard was something your mind automatically deemed dangerous. Given your situation..."
"..." At their suspicious expressions, she huffed. "My Dad's a therapist, of course I know some stuff."
"Raph?" Mikey finally looked up, holding his hand up so Kitty could play with his fingers, looking around. "Where's Raph?"
"Hopefully upstairs- I'm going to bed." Casey waved as he walked away. The other human glared at him.
"Casey."
"It's four A.M!"
"You can go to bed, April." The oldest sighed. "You're tired, and you've done more than enough."
"But Leo-"
"I got it here." He smiled a bit at her. "Please, dry yourself before you get sick?"
Besides... he had a feeling Raph had it handled already.
Just as instinct had told him, Raph had been setting up a blanket form in the living room. He, at least, wasn't freaking out anymore- he even seemed to enjoy it.
Crack!
"How do humans do it?" Mikey complained, no longer crying, snuggling more against his brother in red, trying to leech off his warmth. The older one churred reassuringly, tightening his arm around him. "It's weird."
"Well, humans don't fight robot alien pieces of gums... that might be it."
Both Donnie and Mikey made another annoyed sound. The genius himself had headphones on, looking a lot calmer then before. The blankets were nice, and the Space Heroes episode that had been put on was a nice distraction. No longer was there adrenaline making them antsy or instinct screaming to fight fight fight.
Well... except for Leonardo.
The oldest was quiet, sitting straight and staring, not reacting to anything at all... oh no.
"Leo." Raph growled in warning, successfully distracting the other two. "Take down the 'Leader' right now before I do it myself."
"Don't be mean, Raphie." Mikey let go to snuggle against the oldest instead, purring softly. He could hear his heartbeat, and winced at the rate of it.
BOOM!
"..." Donnie pulled of his headphones after mentally bracing himself so he could put them on the oldest instead. He sighed, and snuggled against his shoulder.
"..." Raph huffed, settled against Mikey's shell, and took Leo's hand without a word. Waiting...
...
Halfway through the second episode, he heard a sob. And sighed. There it is.
"Oh, dude..." Mikey sat straighter so he could hug his shoulder while Donnie wiped a tear away. Leo fell apart quietly, because of course even now he was still trying to keep to himself. Raph scowled, pushed the prankster away carefully, and hugged the oldest close.
"There you go."
"I didn't- I don't-" he blabbered something, but was shushed.
Crack!
A sharp intake of breath from Raph.
Donnie held on tighter in instinct.
Mikey chirped. Safe.
Another churred in reply. No danger.
A final one joined. Calm down.
"..." After a bit, Leo finally churred at them. I got you.
"Do you?" The hothead lightly teased, wiping a tear away. The leader shoved him playfully, finally breaking out a smile. He was about to pull away, but the others pulled him back. Stay.
"..." A tiny chirp. Okay.
"...Oh, Donnie, I wanted to ask-" Leo seemed to just remember. "Can you download rain sounds on my phone?"
"After all that?" The genius huffed, shaking his head. "Sure. Tomorrow. I'm tired."
"You? Tired? Are you sick, brainiac?"
"Says the guy who built a blanket fort. You do have a heart!"
"I- I just needed to make sure Fearless and the other idiot didn't freeze to death! Totally different!"
"Uh-huh, whatever helps you sleep better-"
"Shh." Leo shushed them both, pointing at the youngest. Mikey had fallen asleep it seems, curled up and head pressed against Leo's chest.
"..." Raph, because he had no heart whatsoever, totally did not loop his arms around him in a protective hold and nuzzle the top of his head. Totally not. He would never do that. Donnie, deciding he was done for tonight, allowed himself to sink against his oldest brother.
"Don't you want your headphones back, Don?"
"Keep them."
BOOM!
The thunder didn't sound as bad as it had done before.
Leo looked out the window, just in time to see the flash again- this time, he didn't flinch. However, he felt Raph stiffen, Mikey whimper and Donnie wince.
Leo held all three of them just a bit closer, and churred softly.
There is no danger. You are safe.